A Monster Miwok 100K

2012 Miwok 100K race recap

Last Saturday near San Francisco, the 17th running of the Miwok 100K surprised ...

Last Saturday near San Francisco, the 17th running of the Miwok 100K surprised veterans of the race with a radically revamped course that many called “brutal,” “epic” and “knock-your-socks-off tough.”

How tough? Consider that four-time winner Dave Mackey of Boulder, Colorado, set a course record there in 2008 of 7:53, and his previous slowest time on the course was 8:28. This year, he won the race in 9:14.

What’s more, Mackey’s socks literally got knocked off. About 10 miles into the race, he felt friction on his heel and realized his socks had slipped down. He tried pulling them up, but they scrunched back down, which he blames not on the socks, but on his poor decision to wear his shoes a half-size smaller than usual. It didn’t take long for both heels to open up red, raw wounds, but Mackey ran on (see image, taken by Gary Gellin, on the next page).

After finishing, Mackey good-naturedly said his feet looked worse than they felt. “There was blood, but it wasn’t like my Achilles tendon was showing through or anything.”